[L]aw enforcement officials are investigating threats of violence against Democratic candidate for governor Christine Hallquist, which her campaign says have escalated since she won the primary last week.
The campaign in recent days has reported the threatening online messages to the Vermont State Police and the FBI.
Federal investigators have been notified of the threats because some come from outside of Vermont, according to Adam Silverman, spokesperson for the Vermont State Police.
“We are working generally to investigate the threats, any that may be within our jurisdiction, and working with law enforcement partners to work to investigate the threats,” Silverman said.
Hallquist, who is the first openly transgender candidate to receive major-party backing in a U.S. gubernatorial race, has garnered widespread international media attention since her primary victory last week.
Before the primary, Hallquist had received many bigoted messages from people attacking her gender, according to her campaign manager, Cameron Russell. But in recent days, some of those messages have become violent in nature.
“The stuff that we’re really looking out for is the difference between the bigoted language and any kind of intent,” he said.
Russell pointed to one message, submitted through a comment form on the campaign’s website, that threatened to “come after” Hallquist with a group if she won the race.
Russell said the threats won’t change the way that Hallquist campaigns or how often she appears in public. However, the campaign will be receiving training from local law enforcement to make sure staff are aware of certain safety protocols, he added.
“It’s an unfortunate reality that we sort of anticipated coming in,” Russell said of the threats. “Christine knew that it would be part of this unfortunately.”
Governors in Vermont receive a security detail from the state police and in certain circumstances they can ask police to expand the security detail to other individuals, according to Silverman.
But if Hallquist or her campaign wanted such protection, she would need to request it, he said.
Russell said that as of now, the campaign doesn’t plan on asking for such protection.
“I really hope that that’s not a position that we ever have to be in,” he said.
Gov. Phil Scott has condemned the threats and hate speech directed at his opponent in the November election.
“He’s just been clear that we have an anger and violence issue in this country and we need to come together on this issue, lead by example and do better,” said Rebecca Kelley, the governor’s spokesperson.
“We don’t know the specifics of the threats but threats to someone’s safety is well beyond just speech and something that should be taken seriously,” she added.
Scott himself was subjected to an uptick of death threats earlier this year, around the time he enacted legislation that restricted the state’s gun laws.
“I wish that we lived in a world where you could have a trailblazing political candidate, or a governor sign controversial legislation, and not receive threats on their lives and safety,” Silverman said. “And unfortunately that’s not the reality we live in today.”
